The year 2026 couldn’t start worse for the Marseillais. Sunday January 4, OM collapsed (2-0), during the 17e day, facing Nantes who were nevertheless very poorly ranked. The Marseille club undoubtedly hoped to take advantage of Lille’s defeat the day before to open up a small gap with their leading pursuers and to hang on to the lead. But Sunday evening, the picture is very different.
Because after this fifth defeat of the season in L1, the first by two goals, OM certainly remains third with 32 points, but already eight lengths behind leader Lens and seven behind Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) who won in the evening against Paris FC (2-1). Lille (4e) is still on the same line and behind, Lyon and Rennes are only two lengths away.
Players, coaches or managers, all Marseillais have been repeating it for weeks, this month of January will be decisive for the rest of the OM season. With eight games on the schedule, the first month of the year is a long-distance race. And OM stumbled at the first obstacle. Arrived at the Vélodrome with the 17e place and a terrible series of seven games without victories (five defeats and two draws), the Nantais did not seem particularly dangerous, less in any case than PSG, Liverpool or Lens, some of the opponents that OM will have to face in the weeks to come.
Two expulsions
But in this match started with a silent tribute to Jean-Louis Gasset, the Canaries, now 16ewere good, and the Marseillais were terrible. Already not entering the match very well, Roberto De Zerbi’s players were first saved by VAR and a rather mysterious refereeing decision, which resulted in the cancellation of the goal scored by Youssef El Arabi (8e).
The first twenty minutes in Marseille were bad. The next ones were worse. First, Arthur Vermeeren was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Anthony Lopes (26e). And in the process, Nantes scored, via Fabien Centonze, well placed to take a ball pushed back moderately by Rulli on a strike from the dangerous Matthis Abline (1-0, 31e).
In the second half, Marseille then vaguely and clumsily tried to come back but were never dangerous. It must be said that Bilal Nadir found a way to get himself expelled in turn, for two yellow cards received in three minutes (54e et 56e). And at eleven against nine, it was Nantes who once again found the opening, with a penalty conceded by Benjamin Pavard and transformed by Rémy Cabella, new Nantes recruit and former member of the Marseille house (2-0, 88e).
PSG in capital letters
With this defeat, OM leaves Lens and PSG taking off on the horizon at mid-season. The European champions logically won against Paris FC (PFC) the first derby in the capital in Ligue 1 for almost 36 years.
Paris SG was serious, relying on a typical eleven to launch its year, including Ballon d’Or Ousmane Dembélé, Vitinha and Désiré Doué as starters.
The reigning French champions confiscated the ball from their neighbors, who had made the shortest trip in the world for a derby (44 meters from Jean-Bouin to the Parc des Princes).
Désiré Doué, frustrated by two injuries in quick succession in the fall, showed good spirits, thinking of obtaining a penalty twice, before sending a shot into the top corner, on a service from Fabian Ruiz (1-0, 45e). Then Ousmane Dembélé, with his return constantly delayed in the first part of the season, also because of two injuries but also illnesses, was rewarded for his activity by seeing his deflected shot deceive the former Parisian Kevin Trapp (2-1, 53e), His fourth goal of the season in all competitions.
PSG had barely taken a penalty goal from Willem Gebbels (1-1, 51ste), which Lucas Chevalier at the restart would have dreamed of stopping. The fault conceded by Illia Zabarnyi, overtaken by Alimany Gory, reminded us that the Ukrainian still has a lot to prove.
Nothing to stop the Parisian Ultras from singing “Paris is us” at the end of the match, to mark their territory against the ambitious neighbor, bought by the extremely wealthy Arnault family. Without inspiration or the means to really compete on Sunday, the PFC, in fifteenth place (16 points), looks much more towards the relegation zone than towards the top.
It will take a rapid ramp-up to spice up this Parisian meeting, the second act of which is already scheduled for January 12, in 16e of the Coupe de France final.
